Blue
by LobsterLobster
Summary: A day in the life of Daryl Dixon...Every day at the prison is different than the one before. There are surprises around every corner. Fluff!


Blue

Summary: Life at the prison is never boring, that's for sure!

For this timeline, assume that everything is the same as the show except that the Governor never came back and ruined everything (he was probably mauled by a bear in the woods). Also, Carol never got exiled (maybe she considered taking matters into her own hands with the sick people, but Daryl talked her down…either way, she's still around).

A/N: I unexpectedly ended up with a lot more free time this week. Staying home sick will do that. To distract myself, I wrote you a story!

Daryl is the main character here. I hope you like it!

….

Daryl Dixon shoved the end of a crowbar through the skull of one last walker leaning against the prison fence.

"Alright, boys," Daryl wiped the sweat from his forehead with his arm, "that's enough for tonight. We'll be back at it in the morning."

It was late, probably getting close to midnight, but the stifling Georgia heat did not rest. The fence-clearing night team gratefully tossed their weapons and blood-splattered aprons into the pile near the gate and made their way slowly back to the prison.

They couldn't afford to keep letting the walkers pile up overnight, not after the mob that took down the fence last month was only stopped by Rick and Carl and their assault rifles. The new strategy involved sending a team to thin out the walkers that showed up during the night. Even though it was dark, dirty work, it went a long way to keeping the danger at bay.

Daryl trailed after the others towards the prison, his muscles sore from the long, grueling day. He'd started the day with an early-morning squirrel hunt, helped clear the fence, trudged through the swamp hauling logs to reinforce the fence, taken a break to help Rick spread manure in the garden, grabbed a bite of lunch, then was back at it, reinforcing the fence. He'd taken a shift on watch up in the guard tower, munching on dried squirrel, and then took his turn on the night clearing team.

The cell block was quiet this time of night. Daryl headed towards his cell on the second level.

As he turned the corner he almost ran right into somebody. A little somebody.

"Eeeek!" shrieked Mika, stumbling backwards in alarm and falling on her butt.

"Whoa! Girl, what are you doing out here?" Daryl was just as startled as the little blonde girl.

"No! NO! Help!" Mika yelled in a panic at the same time, her eyes squeezed shut.

"Hey, hey, it's okay Mika. It's me, okay? It's Daryl!" he tried to calm her down before the whole cell block woke up.

Daryl crouched down in front of her, not sure if he should reach out or if that would scare her more, "You're okay, Mika. It's just me. It's Daryl."

Mika took a shaky breath and peeked out from behind her hands.

"Daryl?" she asked uncertainly.

"Yeah, it's just me," he reassured her, "I didn't mean to scare you. You shouldn't be walking around at night like that, ya hear?"

"What's going on?" Carol appeared, running over from her cell with a flashlight, "What's wrong?"

"I'm okay," Mika got up and brushed herself off, glancing hesitantly over at Daryl.

"What did you do?" Carol demanded of him.

Daryl stood up and met her gaze, "Nothing. Just startled her, is all. I was coming back from my shift on the fence."

"I got up to pee and I was coming back to my room but it was dark and I almost ran into him," Mika told her story, "It was dark and I thought he was a monster or something."

"I ain't a monster," Daryl tried to say it gently, not sure if he was in trouble or not. Kids usually liked him. This wasn't his fault, anyway.

Carol relaxed a bit; glad there wasn't a new danger in the cell block.

"Honey, you don't have to be afraid of Daryl. He's our friend. He didn't mean to startle you," she reassured Mika.

"I know…" she said, "but look at him."

Carol swept the flashlight over Daryl. He was covered in several layers of mud, dirt, and walker gore, with a good amount of horse manure mixed in.

It was Daryl's philosophy that any day you didn't end covered in dirt, you didn't work hard enough.

"She has a point," Carol gave her friend a smirk, "You look like the Swamp Thing."

Daryl snorted and headed towards his cell, muttering, "Ya'll gonna stand out here and socialize all night or what?"

He heard Carol chuckle as he walked down the hall. He glanced back at them. Carol rested her hand on the little girl's shoulder, ready to lead her back to bed.

"Is he going to take a bath?" Mika whispered a bit too loudly.

"I hope so," Carol replied.

Finally safe in his cell, Daryl dropped his trusty crossbow by the door. He put his large hunting knife on the little desk by his bed, followed by his Swiss Army knife, his throwing knife, and his back-up hunting knife. It never hurt to be prepared.

He took a deep breath and sighed, releasing all the worry and the tension from the day. Daryl frowned. He took another deep breath, then one more.

Daryl shook his head in defeat. _Carol was right, as usual._ He smelled bad. Really bad. There was no way he could show up to breakfast in this state. He would never hear the end of it.

Daryl groaned. He probably wouldn't hear the end of it as it was, not after scaring the kid half to death like that.

Accepting the inevitability of his predicament, Daryl rummaged around his cell until he found some half-way clean clothes, grabbed his camp lantern, and headed off to the communal shower area to wash up.

It looked like one of the curtained-off showers was already occupied, probably someone else from the night fence-clearing team washing up before going to sleep. Daryl didn't think anything of it and grabbed a towel from the rack and went a couple stalls down.

He dumped his stuff on the bench and looked around for the soap, his lantern swinging wild shadows around the room. There had to be soap around here somewhere.

"I told you, someone's there!...Shh! Don't-…Who is it?...Hold on, I'll check," came a muddle of voices from behind the curtain at the far end of the row.

Suddenly Maggie peeked her head out of the curtain, holding her own battery powered camp lantern.

"Who's there?" she called, squinting.

"Maggie?" Daryl responded.

"Daryl? What are you doing here?" the brunette asked.

"Taking a shower, what's it look like?" Daryl answered gruffly.

Maggie looked him up and down in the dim light, taking in the muddy mess. She looked like she wanted to say something else but just settled on, "Alright," and ducked back behind the curtain.

Daryl could have sworn it had sounded like there were two people in there. Something occurred to him and he spoke up again.

"Hey, that ain't Glenn in there with you, is it?" he asked, not really wanting to know the answer but also really wanting to take his shower in peace without the newlyweds getting busy in the same room. _Even in the middle of the night, this is a public space!_

"No!" Maggie's head reappeared.

"Daryl, it's just me," came a second voice from behind her.

"Beth?"

"I'm doing her hair. Don't worry about it," Maggie told Daryl curtly.

_That was weird._ It must be a sister thing, like how Mika and Lizzy sometimes braid each other's hair, but they don't do that in the showers late at night. _Whatever._ Daryl grunted his indifference.

At last he found the supply basket. All he wanted was a normal bar of soap, but that was not to be had. There was bottle upon bottle of…Daryl aimed the light closer…lilac body wash, Herbal Essences shampoo, coconut melon conditioner, the list went on, all of it unmistakably girl's soap.

Daryl came to a decision. He was too tired to care about the labels. Soap was soap, right? He grabbed a couple bottles and drew the curtain around his shower stall.

He peeled off his dirty, smelly clothes and tossed them into a soggy pile on top of his mud encrusted boots.

_If they want me to smell like a pretty daisy, then so be it, I will smell like a pretty daisy! _Daryl squirted an excessive amount of shampoo onto his head and began to scrub. _Wow…girl soap sure makes a lot of suds…_

Daryl didn't remember the last time he'd had a proper shower. Personally, he prescribed to the rain shower philosophy; he liked to wash off in the rain whenever there was a good downpour. No need to waste valuable water that could be used for drinking or cooking.

Tonight was different, however. Daryl determinedly scrubbed every inch of his body, the lilac scented soap washing away layers of sweat and grime. No half measures.

_We'll see who calls me Swamp Thing now!_ Daryl smirked to himself, imagining Carol's expression when he sat down next to her at breakfast, smelling like a field of wildflowers.

He pulled the water lever and watched the suds swirl away. That dark swamp mud sure was persistent. It clung to his legs, his arms. Daryl poured some more fruity-smelling soap and continued scrubbing. It was difficult to reach his back, but he did his best.

_Maybe now Michonne will finally get off my back for giving her fleas. I'll show her. She can just eat her words._ Daryl chuckled a little at that thought.

Michonne was the only one who dared to make fun of him so brazenly. Not even Carol would taunt him like that. It was strange, and he would certainly never tell her this, but Michonne reminded him a little bit of his brother.

Some of the stuff she said, if it came from anyone else he would probably take it as a challenge, but he didn't get mad at Michonne. He would just give her a little smile to let her know that he didn't mind, he was just happy to have someone to watch his back. She expressed friendship with teasing. Daryl appreciated that.

More sounds from the two sisters brought Daryl back to the present.

"Be careful!...Hold still, I have to wash it out! …Here, check the mirror..."

Daryl washed the last of the suds out of his hair. He shook his head to get rid of the excess water drops. Whatever those two girls were up to, he wanted no part of it.

"Oh my God!" Beth gasped.

"It totally worked!" exclaimed Maggie. She sounded overly excited about something.

"Daddy is going to kill me!" that was Beth again.

Daryl really didn't want to know what they were doing, it was none of his business, he only wanted to crawl into bed and sleep.

Rivulets of water coming from Beth and Maggie's shower stall ran past Daryl, swirling around his feet on the way to the drain. He bent closer to look.

The water was…blue. Bright blue. It was all over Daryl's feet.

"No he won't. It'll be fine, Beth. It's great!"

That was it. He had tolerated this craziness for long enough.

"What did I do?! I should never have listened to you!"

"Calm down! This was half your idea anyway! Don't blame me!"

Daryl wrapped the towel around his waist and stamped through the unnaturally blue water over to the end of the row of showers. He yanked the curtain back, startling both girls. Thankfully, they were both fully clothed.

"What the hell is-" Daryl started to demand but was stunned into silence.

In the midst of their argument, neither of them had heard Daryl until he was standing in front of them.

Maggie stood holding a small mirror in one hand and a plastic bowl in the other. She was wearing disposable plastic gloves. Beth was kneeling next to her, a towel wrapped around her shoulders.

None of that was what left Daryl momentarily speechless. Even in the dim light of the camp lanterns, Daryl could see it clear as day.

Beth's long hair hung loose over her shoulders. It was definitely, unmistakably, bright blue.

"_Holy shi_-"

"Daryl!" Beth cut him off, looking slightly panicked, "Promise you won't tell Daddy, okay?"

"Uhh," for once, Maggie seemed at a loss for words. She looked at her sister with raised eyebrows.

"Shut up, Maggie," Beth said, standing up and attempting to use the towel to dry her hair.

"It's a little late for regrets, don't you think?" Maggie said it anyway.

"I always let you talk me into things and now look at this! I look like a crazy person!" Beth all but yelled.

"You agreed, remember?! You said you were sure. I asked again and again and you said you were sure!" Maggie retorted, patience wearing thin, "Don't yell at me because you're suddenly embarrassed in front of Daryl!"

"I'm not!" Beth retorted, knowing it was a lie and knowing they could all tell it was a lie, but unable to think of anything better to say, "I'm not embarrassed in front of Daryl! I don't care at all what he thinks!"

"Wow," Daryl hardly heard what they were saying, he was so bewildered by Beth's hair, no longer blonde and pretty, "It's blue."

"What would you go and do that for?" he wondered out loud, genuinely confused at this unexpected turn of events.

Beth turned around and hid her face.

"You're not helping," Maggie told Daryl.

"What do I do?" Beth mumbled into the towel. She was having some serious regrets, despite what she'd told her sister an hour ago.

At that moment someone else wandered into the shower area. Everyone turned to see Michonne walk in holding a small flashlight and a bundle of clean clothes, a fluffy towel draped over her shoulder.

Michonne was returning from her shift on guard duty. It was a sticky hot night and she wanted to try and cool down and wash away the day's sweat before going to sleep.

Michonne hesitated upon finding the shower area unexpectedly crowded at this time of night. Curious, she walked over to the three people gathered near the back of the room.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, shocked and slightly embarrassed at the sight of Daryl in a towel.

"Trying to take a damn shower! Why is that so hard to believe?" Daryl was quickly getting tired of being asked that question.

"Yeah, but why-" Michonne did a double take, finally noticing Beth, "Whoa!"

"I dyed it blue," Beth hesitantly supplied an unnecessary explanation.

"Wow…" Michonne leaned closer to Beth to get a better look.

Beth waited anxiously to hear what her friend's reaction would be.

"That's awesome!" Michonne said appreciatively, her face breaking into a huge grin.

"Really? You like it?" Beth asked, needing assurance from someone who was not either related to her or who was Daryl.

"Yeah, you look awesome!" Michonne said, nodding. She now had a new level of respect for the sweet, cheerful girl who always volunteered to babysit. Beth sure was full of surprises.

"It's totally badass," Michonne grinned, "You look like a rock star, Beth Greene."

Maggie laughed out loud. Beth started to smile for the first time. If Michonne thought that she looked cool, then it must be true.

"I can't wait to see it in the daylight," Maggie said.

"Daddy is going to have a heart attack," Beth said with a guilty smile.

"Forget Hershel, what's Lil Asskicker going to think?" Daryl said.

"Do you think she'll notice?" Maggie asked.

Beth shrugged, "She might. She tries to grab my hair sometimes."

Daryl stifled a yawn. He shook his damp hair out of his eyes. It was high time to get dressed and get out of here.

He didn't move quickly enough. Michonne fixed him with an inquisitive look, bordering on a smirk.

"Okay, but Daryl Dixon, seriously, why are you in the girl's shower room?"

…..

A/N: Poor Daryl, he can't win, can he? He didn't even know there were separate boys/girls showers!

I had to take a break from my usual Richonne stories and write some of my other favorite characters! Please tell me what you thought!

People seem generally split between shipping Daryl with Beth or Carol. Myself, I feel pretty divided on that issue. I think it could really go either way, or none at all… We'll have to wait and find out! I think the most important thing to Daryl is working hard to protect his new family. As long as Daryl and Rick continue to kick butt together, I'll be happy!


End file.
